Martha Spurrier

Liberty

Director

Martha is a human rights barrister. Before joining Liberty, she specialised in defending access to justice, challenging state failures and fighting for the rights of women, children and disabled people.

She has worked with bereaved families seeking answers after loved ones died in state care, victims of rape, domestic violence and trafficking who have been failed by the police, and protestors and journalists whose freedoms have been under attack.

Martha was previously a lawyer at Mind and the Public Law Project and she has written books about human rights, policing and disability rights. She is a trustee of Medical Justice.

Martha joined Liberty because she wanted to be part of a team of passionate, principled people using their diverse skills to hold the powerful to account and stand up for people’s rights. Litigation is only part of the answer – and she loves being part of an ambitious campaigning organisation that has many different tools for achieving change.

When it comes to the Government respecting and protecting our rights, freedom and equality, this has been a dark year – from the contempt for democracy shown in the Repeal Bill to technologically illiterate attacks on our online privacy and the continued creep of immigration enforcement into every corner of UK life.

But last night Liberty members and supporters came together to honour those who aren’t willing to sit back and accept this vision of our country’s future at our annual Human Rights Awards.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Repeal Bill – a piece of legislation that, in its current form, gives a handful of ministers unprecedented powers to rewrite our laws with no proper scrutiny from Parliament – stumbled over its first parliamentary hurdle.

In every town and city, in every school and family, there are inspiring people doing amazing things to bring about change for the better. Now is the time to tell Liberty who they are so that we can celebrate them.

It’s easy to feel hopeless as we come to terms with the shock of a terror attack on our home soil – for the fourth time in as many months.

This year innocent people from all backgrounds and all over the world were murdered on what should have been ordinary days – as they strolled over bridges, left a concert, enjoyed a pint and headed home after prayers.

To most of us, this violence seems utterly needless. But the perpetrators had a purpose.